RF Connector

Coaxicom designs and manufactures an extensive line of standard, as well as custom microwave and RF connectors all available in 50 or 75 Ohm impedance. We have proudly served Customers in industries including the US military, automotive, medical, instrumentation, aerospace, defense, telecom, wireless alternative energy and more. Coaxicom is committed to providing outstanding service, value and quality with our made in the USA RF Connectors since 1984.

What is an RF Connector?

A coaxial RF connector (radio frequency connector) is an electrical connector designed to work at radio frequencies in the multi-megahertz range. RF connectors are typically used with coaxial cables and are designed to maintain the shielding that the coaxial design offers. Better models also minimize the change in transmission line impedance at the connection. Mechanically, they provide a fastening mechanism (thread, bayonet, braces, blind mate) and springs for a low ohmic electric contact while sparing the gold surface, thus allowing very high mating cycles and reducing the insertion force.

History of RF Connectors

The UHF type connector saw its conception in the early 1930’s, a time when VHF/UHF technology was quite new. The forefathers of VHF were in many cases Amateur radio experimenters, most with Engineering and technical backgrounds. They began experimenting and working the VHF frontier around 1926. Soon thereafter research into FM radio and Television began and out of this era came the then named UHF connector.

The N connector (in full, Type N connector) is a threaded, weatherproof, medium-size RF connector used to join coaxial cables. It was one of the first connectors capable of carrying microwave-frequency signals, and was invented in the 1940s by Paul Neill of Bell Labs, after whom the connector is named. Originally, the connector was designed to carry signals at frequencies up to 1 GHz in military applications, but today’s common Type N easily handles frequencies up to 11 GHz. More recent precision enhancements to the design by Julius Botka at Hewlett Packard have pushed this to 18 GHz.

The BNC connector was named for Bayonet Neill–Concelman, after its bayonet mount locking mechanism and its inventors, Paul Neill and Carl Concelman. Neill worked at Bell Labs and also invented the N connector; Concelman worked at Amphenol and also invented the C connector. The basis for the development of the BNC connector was largely the work of Octavio M. Salati, a graduate of the Moore School of Electrical Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania. In 1945, while working at Hazeltine Electronics Corporation, he filed a patent for a connector for coaxial cables that would minimize wave reflection/loss. The patent was granted in 1951.

The SMA connector first appeared in the late ’50s as the “BRM,” manufactured by the Bendix Scintilla Division. In the ’60s it was popularized as the “OSM,” manufactured by Omni Spectra. In 1968 it received the “SMA” (Sub-miniature A) designation that we know today. The SMA was designed as a miniaturized, economical connector for system application. It was never intended to be a precision connector for the laboratory. As it is only rated for 500 mate/de-mate operations, it was designed for use in semi-rigid cable assemblies and components not requiring frequent connect/disconnect.